Liara T'Soni. Shadow Throne. Human space.
The news of the attack on the Turian Hierarchy was unexpected and alarming. Agents requested evacuation, but everything happened too fast. The Shadow Broker's network, as well as the general Turian one and the Extranet, was filled with cries for help. A few were managed to be pulled out by promising pilots a substantial sum, but only some. And even among those, not everyone made it out. The enemy destroyed ships without mercy, as they did the defenders.
The enemy simply blocked the Mass Relay with ships and shot down everyone trying to escape through it.
At a certain point, a warhead flew through the Mass Relay and managed to punch a window for those escaping. But not for very long; the enemy simply positioned ships at some distance to the side and continued to pick off everyone breaking through. Simultaneously, everyone on the surface who offered resistance or simply displeased the invaders was being destroyed.
The silence that followed a day later was oppressive. And familiar. This had already happened in the worlds where the Reapers landed. When there are absolutely no guarantees that an informant won't be killed by Husks or Reaper forces, and any transmitter could draw attention to you. Or even just a passing Reaper might step on you or incinerate you. All that remained was to gather information from those who stayed. And hope that tomorrow they wouldn't be silent too.
But the situation only worsened. And the Shadow Broker's network in a galaxy gripped by the harvest was shrinking every day; agents simply stopped responding. Usually, due to death. The same thing happened here; everyone just went silent, one by one.
What was even more unpleasant was the Citadel's reaction. Almost panicky, actually. All this time, the conflict with Humans had been on the side of the Humans. All major battles were fought on the Humans' side.
Yes, fleets were being destroyed; Humans hold their defense well. Yes, in the Contact (System), as the Humans seem to call it, there is a small graveyard of ships, gradually being dismantled by the Humans.
Yes, Human raiders are capable of inflicting great harm. But these are single ships. Cruisers, but they act covertly and conduct various types of sabotage operations without trying to fight large Citadel fleet forces. Humans respond, but nothing more.
The initiative is on the Citadel's side; Humans are locked in their own space. Competent defense solves your problems. And this works both ways. Human raiders also take damage and retreat, make mistakes, and expose themselves. And in this, they are completely understandable. As is how the conflict between Human space and Citadel space will continue.
They'll fight some more, figure out who is stronger—Humans or Turians. And they'll come to an agreement. Everyone had already begun gradually preparing for peace negotiations, in which everyone would keep what's theirs, and corporations would trade with both sides.
And then an unknown fleet arrives, wipes out a Turian Hierarchy colony, and in twenty-four hours exterminates four-fifths of its population. And the attackers don't care about the initiative or the fact that the Humans are locked in. Because these aren't Humans. And they certainly didn't come in peace. This fact completely overturned the situation. And panic began.
Yes, the Citadel Council doesn't know what to do. All-around support for the Turian Hierarchy has been officially declared, with troops and resources. But in fact, the enemy is unknown, their location is unknown, and it's still unclear how to stop their attack. Their fleet, even at first glance, will require the exertion of all Citadel Space forces, and new troops cannot be quickly obtained from anywhere. Humans, Krogan?
The Humans obviously won't buy into an attempt to involve them in this war, although that warhead that flew through the Mass Relay could have been from them or the Geth. That leaves the Krogan.
But there are few Krogan, and they remember the Genophage all too well to go into battle again instead of the Council races.
And there is no certainty that Citadel Space ships can stop the enemy at all. They can delay them, but stop them? I'm not sure. Complete uncertainty, backed by attempts to talk around or silence the problem. Or find a diplomatic solution, given that we don't understand what exactly The Covenant wants.
Is it any wonder that Liara sat at her workplace on stimulants, trying to gather as much information about the enemy as possible? Yes, the information bomb about the attack on the colony in the network was also hers, to provoke a public reaction to the problem while the Citadel Council was thinking. Such a leak was completely out of character for the Broker, but it was necessary to make everyone move. It worked!
Around the fifth day without sleep, when a meeting with the Humans was scheduled to ransom a Salarian agent and to understand more about The Covenant (besides general information, something more specific was needed), the Broker was quietly put down with Stasis and forced to sleep.
"No offense, but you're starting to look like a Husk yourself without any indoctrination," Jeff said the next day when she woke up after eighteen hours of sleep. Rested. "And don't pout, Liara. I know what you're thinking. I'm thinking the same thing. But these aren't Reapers. There's no need to work yourself to exhaustion like this; it's too early. No one wins if you just collapse like that. There'll be nothing but problems. What would I tell Matriarch Benezia?"
Liara nodded.
"I know. And since when did you sign up as my nanny, Jeff?"
He laughed through the speaker.
"Well, your mom was very convincing. But jokes aside, we're doing what we can. If you aren't sharp during the negotiations with the Humans, we'll have far more problems than if we reach a normal agreement with them. We're still on their side; we need to negotiate to get a window to get out of here."
Liara laughed.
"Jeff, am I really that scary?"
Joker replied:
"I've heard how you talk to subordinates. Even that voice modulator is creepy. And when you're in a bad mood too, it's total horror. Just hide and stay out of sight."
After thinking for a couple of seconds, Liara quite humanly showed the middle finger to the ceiling (for obvious reasons, the "fuck" gesture among Asari cannot have the same meaning as among Humans), and to the man's laughter, remarked:
"Thanks. Okay, I'll deal with the calls I missed while I was sleeping. Give me a nudge half an hour before the negotiations, okay?"
"Will do."
And Joker disconnected. Liara's mood improved; after all, it's moments like these that allow for a little distraction. In the metal coffin of the Shadow Throne, where she has literally lived for the last few months, there are very few reasons for such lightness. Only work, work, and work. She even downloaded games from the Extranet to have some way to entertain herself.
Looking at the issue now, the months the Asari spent on the SSV Normandy during the Reaper War were the best in her practice as the Broker. A fun team, EDI's wit, action, and variety. And the need to work with the Broker's network was perceived much more easily. And Joker is now one of the few available opportunities to unwind, left over from the past. And someone who can be trusted.
Liara sighed. She had to work; there were still hours before the meeting with the Humans, and they shouldn't be wasted. And then there's the Matriarch—
They are asking to find more information about the Covenant. Especially practical information. Work again.
***
Contact with the humans will not be conducted in person, of course. A quantum beacon, which can neither be tracked nor intercepted. There are no suicidal fools willing to crawl into the hands of a foreign intelligence service. Therefore, only through the beacon, planted with the humans back during the Salarian operation. And even then, the location was chosen for a quick retreat. Who knows, maybe the humans can determine the location of a quantum pair. One can expect anything from them.
In her situation, whether she wants to or not, she has to learn. To avoid mistakes.
One attempt to approach a human colony immediately resulted in shelling. Unlike the Citadel, the humans' fleet also possesses combat stations. Covered in shields, armor, and guns that would simply tear the UNSC Ghost into many pieces. No, thank you.
Leaving human space is also impossible for now; the Mass Relay is under blockade. She has to maneuver. Not that the UNSC Ghost wasn't accustomed to such things. The ship was built with a high degree of autonomy in mind. But still, it's a trap from which the ship and its crew should be evacuated if possible. Which means a certain degree of contact with the humans is necessary. And the Salarian needs to be picked up; after all, he fully completed the task.
So, setting up the signal. Let's see what the humans say. Connection established. Approaching the terminal, Liara spoke:
"Greetings."
The humans also transmit only voice. Wise; I have no idea who is speaking to me, what gender or age, the voice is processed as well. Just like Liara's own.
"So. Shadow Broker. To what do we owe the honor?"
Now for the hard part. Asking the right questions.
"I have information. You have information. I propose a deal. An exchange."
They did not object.
"Ask. Let's see what we can offer each other."
And at the same time, you'll listen to what interests me. You don't necessarily have to answer. Or do so honestly. But this is a game that two can play.
"Countering the Covenant. Forces, tactics, weapons. Name your price."
This time, the wait lasted about a minute.
"Asari. Their commandos, capabilities, and tactics."
For a second, Liara flinched at the thought that the other side had realized who she was. But she quickly understood that for a civilization clearly unfamiliar with biotics, this must be normal. Humans in her reality also gained biotics much later; there was no Element Zero on Earth. After incidents and experiments, human biotics appeared. For these humans, this hasn't happened yet.
And here are the Asari, a race consisting entirely of biotics; it's logical that the humans want information. And, importantly, she can somewhat distort this information in her favor or toward underestimation. Especially since she has a mass of this information, including from personal experience. Her mother's guard taught her much, including combat. So, adjusting the data, knowing certain peculiarities, won't be difficult.
So the answer:
"Such information is available. But it is worth much more. We are talking about an elite unit. You should offer something more in return."
A bit of audacity, but ultimately the pure truth: Asari commandos are very specific fighters with very specific and expensive training. Due to the proliferation of private armies in Asari culture, the standardization of training in such groups is somewhat lacking. No, there is a general base, but only a base. Groups have their own specifics; they can differ even in combinations of biotic techniques, preferred equipment modules, and armor upgrades. And this will affect the group and its tactics. This makes Asari commando groups somewhat specific, yet unique at the same time.
In such conditions, leaking only general information to the humans won't help them that much.
But that doesn't stop her from squeezing more out of the humans for this data, right? The humans on the other side seemed to decide to respond.
"Known features of Covenant society. This topic was not raised in previous negotiations."
Now that's interesting. Not sure if it will be possible to contact them or if the humans will pass on something important, but the fact itself. Right now, the Covenant is just an arriving army. We don't know why or for what. In fact, through the Turians, they know more about us than we do about them. Which means any information will be useful. Even if there is a clear understanding that the humans will only give the most general information.
In fact, the human agent also gave only very general information, almost without figures. And in return, she also received far from all the data from the Salarian computers. We don't trust each other enough to share precise data. Yes, we give a lot, but without specific numbers and nuances, it is largely theory that will be difficult to apply.
By the way, she also needs to squeeze out information about the beast-girl agent. Such a fighter would definitely be useful to the Shadow Broker. And it's just beautiful; if the right suit is chosen to match the fur color, those old blue female politicians will howl with envy. Not one of them will have such a bodyguard. Status—that's important. Ah, dreams.
And then the bargaining began. Those sitting on the other side were by no means novices, and the clarifications of information, attempts to trade more for less, details, and omissions dragged on for many hours.
When Liara stumbled into the mess hall, she was a completely pale blue color. Joker, present in the flesh, whistled.
"Who did this to you?"
The Asari sighed.
"Humans. And now I'm certain they have either a team of analysts or an AI there. Too precise, too fast at finding holes in my documents and arguments. I just send it, and a couple of minutes later, the discussion of discrepancies begins. In a three-hundred-page document, Jeff!!!" And three minutes later, they had completely read five hundred gigabytes of high-quality recordings and started asking questions about them!!! How? It's impossible to react that fast!"
Joker whistled.
"Impressive. But you managed, right?"
The Asari shrugged, continuing to eat.
"Well, I think so. I got less than I planned and gave more. But in the end, it's a good exchange. We learned quite a bit about the enemy. But god, I'm tired. They're just maniacs, Jeff."
He laughed.
"Humans!"
***
Khaela, Cruiser UNSC Apollo.
My three-day voyage across the surface of Earth was over. No, I didn't manage to get to Miranda; it was all business. While the core manages the shipyard block, bots are helping with research in a dozen parallel projects, including missile refinement, neutron emitter development, AI, and working with some technologies from the Boundless Will.
And the avatar didn't sleep either. The Vice Admiral finished working with the documents and began crushing the resistance of local intelligence chiefs. And the conflict shifted into a mode of various "incidents." I especially liked the hour-long chase through the city with police, corporates, and bandits, while the avatar covered the agents with a Sniper Rifle. And all for the sake of, while just passing through the city, killing an official, and then everyone considering it an accident, a "stray bullet."
In arranging "accidents" for one's neighbor, intelligence has no equal. And when two competing intelligence services end up on one planet... Houses explode, officials die, Pelican engines fail, equipment glitches. And no, I didn't blow up a house, and no one even died. The officials just decided to power their village of mansions from a ship reactor, albeit a small one. Well, now... Well, you can live there for about two weeks. Then the consequences of several lethal doses of radiation await you. The officials themselves weren't there, but the scandal will be something to behold. A bunch of irradiated servants, screaming media, military types getting worked up over the mere fact of a ship reactor being used like that. And that's far from everything.
Yellow and I remembered the original purpose of the Spartans: making radical political statements. We had to fight Spartans from the other side in the process. Not to the death; both sides were primarily trying to capture rather than destroy the enemy.
In any case, the process followed the principle: sortie, strike, firefight, quick retreat. Quick repair and repeat. Or sabotage using robots or hacking, and then retreat. But sooner or later, even this ends.
And now the avatar is back at base; I need to handle armor repair and maintenance. I'm sure the brass hasn't finished their squabbles. Which means the avatar and the robots will be enlisted for further "political statements." All structures should be unified to solve the problem where Reach and Earth are essentially competing rather than cooperating. The solution is perfectly logical; I support it.
Already on the Pelican's approach, it was discovered that an impressively sized transport was hanging near the UNSC Apollo, docked to a class-7 transport hub. Which means they are offloading something in large volume. I can even guess what exactly. Though, since I am not the ship's AI, I don't have exact information. I can just ask out loud.
"What did they bring there?"
The pilot shrugged.
"They don't report to me. But rumors say it's a batch of new armor for the marines. Ma'am."
I nodded.
"That's possible; they're due. And don't 'ma'am' me."
The pilot nodded.
"Yes, ma'am."
Well, shut up then.
The Geth turned out to be not particularly effective almost immediately after the first skirmishes with the Covenant. Plasma burns their hulls well. Only Primes and other shield-equipped models showed more or less adequate effectiveness. And Hunters, thanks to their ability to stick to walls and act as snipers or their cloaking systems. And while the loss of programs isn't a problem due to quantum beacons, the general fragility of the Geth led us to a long discussion with the fragment of Mendicant Bias.
The Geth churn out platforms by the billions; anyway, after one platform is destroyed, the Geth upload into another and continue the fight until the platforms run out. Or the enemies. And mass-remodeling them... Why? We can just combine the developments of Debaltsev, from the Boundless Will, Mendicant Bias, mine, ODST armor, and MJOLNIR Armor. And create something in between that can be stamped out in huge batches in various configurations. Infantry armor.
And then change it for other purposes if necessary. Production was given to the Geth, but all the documentation as well. The project, after tests and long discussions, went into production.
The result was universal armor at the ODST level, with the possibility of upgrades, such as shields. It includes composite armor, an insulation layer protecting against the "overload" of the Citadel dwellers, and several (two to one spot on the helmet, four to the breastplate, or more if spread over time) shots from a Covenant Plasma Rifle. Which is twice as strong as what the marines wear now. Plus a closed breathing system and climate control, which are absent in the basic marine kit.
The Geth have armor for their own needs, of course. And it looks like this is exactly a delivery from them. It's time; this will increase the overall survivability of the marines.
Landing in the dock, we immediately saw soldiers in the new armor. Indeed, it looks like ODST gear, only not black, but camouflage green. Quite massive; the Geth preserved the human gear design. The marine armor is a light exoskeleton, and it's slightly heavier than ODST armor in the front, with stronger plates at the cost of mobility.
At the same time, it will still fit into standard human vehicles, which is critical. Also, if desired, such an infantryman can carry heavier weapons or more ammunition without overloading himself. And potentially armor modifications; there is space.
The marines in the hangar were jumping, moving, and generally working hard to get used to the new armor. I approached the guards at the entrance, who only then stopped twitching.
"New toys, huh?"
They nodded in sync. No emotions visible behind the helmets, but they sounded pleased.
"Yes, ma'am. A bit heavy, pulls a bit until you're used to it, but the protection is better than before. We'll need to get used to it a bit and we'll be even tougher than before. Ma'am."
I nodded.
"Great news. I'm going to turn in my gear."
On the way to the armory, Ajax contacted me.
"How do you like our infantry's new armor?"
I snorted.
"Haven't seen it in action. Looks good, and you know the data yourself. They'll run the infantry through their paces, and we'll see what happens."
"Agreed. Oh, by the way, there are presents for you there, and for our eggheads. From the Geth."
So, let's see. Presents are useful. A video recording is experience; it'll come in handy. Obviously, a Geth ship, blue metal walls without decoration and without lighting—machines don't need it. Actually, the corridors are simpler than those of humans; synthetics don't care about decompression or cold, darkness or the claustrophobia that might haunt a living crew. Just bare functionality. And in this corridor, a battle is clearly being prepared.
Geth are taking positions at a hatch, a closed one. By the way, the Geth used the same armored door-pillbox they scouted from us. A door with embrasures, so even enemy vehicles can't pass further without cutting through it first. And that's a waste of time, possibly even a long one, since we're talking about centimeters of composite armor plates. And if you're unlucky, there will also be shields. Good luck breaking through.
There are about twenty Geth, all in armor. The armor is similar to ours but fitted to their frame. Only the helmets are for their heads, and the knees are arranged differently. And the feet. Otherwise, it's clearly a standard stamping.
What do we have on the other side? The hatch; they're cutting it. Between the hatch and the Geth is about ten meters. The Geth took positions in the embrasures and aimed. Ordinary Geth trooper platforms—you can't tell under the armor, but there are tags on the recording. Not the most dangerous enemy in normal conditions, but the conditions are not normal at all.
The door opens and on the other side, behind containers, are a dozen Quarians. Also behind the containers stand turrets, which immediately began attacking with grenades loaded with "overloads." The Quarians themselves sent grenades at the Geth, clearly trying to push through the defense. And the presence of the armor plate surprised them incredibly. Lightning ran across the door, flashes of grenades that damaged the weapons sticking out of the embrasures, literally flooding the Geth positions with lightning, flame, and gravity distortions. More precisely, flooding the armor plate—that's important.
Had they not had armor or the armor plate, the defenders would have simply been ground up, even if there were fifty of them instead of twenty. In narrow ship corridors, "overload" lightning fries electronics for whole groups of Geth at once.
But such a shutter became an unpleasant surprise for the attackers. And also the armor, which lightning danced across, but the Geth inside didn't shut down. Except that their weapons glitched and overheated. But even here, grenades were found, as well as spare weapons in a box nearby. Prudent.
In the end, the Geth survive the onslaught and take out the stormtroopers with precise weapon volleys, then move forward, clearing the Quarian ship. End of recording.
Ajax, seeing that I had finished watching, explained:
"They sent five Quarian corpses to our scientists, and this recording to you as a result of the work. And five thousand sets of armor to the UNSC Apollo. Oh, by the way. Yellow is sparring with a Krogan."
Whoa.
"Show me!"
The core received the invitation, and I immediately connected to the camera. So, what do we have here. A Krogan in scarlet armor, Urdnot Wrex, against Yellow, who arrived on the ship almost a day ago.
So, a training ground, a ring. On it is a Spartan with a mock Gravity Hammer and a Krogan with the same. Interesting, interesting. Looks like they decided to use melee weapons. The mass of the fighters is similar, so it's even logical. Let's see.
Wrex launches himself like a cannonball, apparently applying a "throw" to himself. Almost half a ton of Krogan in armor at a speed of a hundred kilometers per hour. Powerful, and most importantly, if anything, he'll have to take that hit himself too. Which means he's confident he'll withstand it.
The Spartan moves aside and tries to impale the Krogan on the blade of the Gravity Hammer, but the Krogan in response holds his out like a spear, and the Spartan is the one who has to dodge now.
At the same time, the Krogan easily stops himself and lunges at the human. The Spartan doesn't go for direct contact; a lunge at a mage means exposing oneself to a sphere. So the human dances around the giant, sharply changing directions and trying to reach him with the hammer. The giant himself doesn't charge head-on either, trying to catch the opponent with anti-gravity zones, a lunge, or an unexpected and clever hammer strike.
Once again he tried to catch the opponent in a clinch with a lunge, but the Spartan is mobile enough. A couple of times the Krogan took a hit to the armor from a metal gauntlet, but nothing critical. After all, armor exists for a reason. A buttstroke against a full power suit is dangerous only at certain points. And the Krogan regenerates, even if it hurts. Parity.
"They're a match for each other," Ajax noted.
I nodded already in the workshop, starting to remove the armor from the avatar.
"Yes, Yellow is faster, but a mage in close combat can seriously mess things up at point-blank range. Where is this Krogan from, anyway?"
"Urdnot Wrex arrived while you were spoiling fugu fish with robots on the surface. You did notice Dr. Catherine Halsey was busy for a few days?" I nodded, and my colleague explained, "That's why. Studying samples the frigate brought. So for now, we're without her. And the Krogan is clearly one of their leaders, so he's interesting to intelligence too. And as a source of combat experience."
Well, yes, I see. The Spartan and the Krogan continued to dance, exchanging blows, but without significant results. The Krogan tried a couple more times to reach the Spartan with gravitational strikes, a push that was compensated for by magnetic boots. In response, the Spartan tried to reach the Krogan from the side. Interestingly, both sides haven't landed a serious hit on each other yet. Glancing blows or punches to the torso that don't deal critical damage to the opponent.
And then Wrex got tired of it; he slowly raised his hand, enveloped in a purple glow, and the Spartan literally floated, interrupting a roll. And immediately tried to crush the Krogan with a vertical hammer strike. The Krogan parried the blow with his second hand and his own hammer, hissing when the strike slid across his fingers. First blood. But he didn't stop levitating the opponent. No, he jerked his hand, slamming the Spartan to the floor and pinning him with his own mage power.
The Spartan tried to roll, but was splayed on the floor.
"The Krogan continues to press with gravity. Interesting, we haven't encountered such a skill before. Just direct control of the territory around himself," Ajax noted, and I nodded. That's how it is.
Wrex then performed a vertical strike with his own strength. The Spartan was able to stop it, but the Krogan continued to press with mass and magic and eventually pushed through. A buzzer sounded.
"Urdnot Wrex wins."
He immediately stopped the attack and offered Yellow a hand, which he grabbed. He might be unhappy, but the usefulness of such experience is invaluable, and the Spartan understands this.
"So, the humans really did create their own Battlemasters," Wrex noted, "even without biotics. Impressive, but you're still too young, warrior. Who taught you?"
Yellow snorted through the speakers.
"If everything goes well, you'll meet my creator in person."
Wrex bared his teeth.
"I can't wait. I know how to appreciate smart specialists."
I disconnected from the network. I need to perform maintenance on the armor and then get to testing our marines in their new gear. Let's see what the Geth put together and how their developments can be used to our advantage. It was interesting, but there are other matters to attend to.
***
Read the story months before public release — early chapters are on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Granulan